by Chris Bodenner
As if the bedbug epidemic in New York wasn't bad enough by itself:
In a report released by the Socionomics Institute, researchers found strong correlations between falling stock prices and epidemics, both of which they say are brought about by a trend toward negative social mood. With financial markets in decline, Alan Hall, a leading researcher at the Georgia-based think tank, says bedbugs are just the beginning, "The list of epidemics in the news quietly continues to grow. Chronic kidney disease, Alzheimers, obesity, sexually-transmitted diseases, heart disease, meningitis, diabetes, cholera, Lyme disease and measles are all described by doctors as current epidemics." As mood grows fearful, stress rises and stocks plunge, the risk of disease increases. Hall says, "It's widely believed that epidemics make people fearful...but the data shows that fearful people are more susceptible to epidemics."
And I just happened to move back to Brooklyn this month and need to find a mattress. (Though it seems I'm not even safe in theaters.)